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Monkey: Journey to the West | 
 enlarge | Artist: Damon Albarn
Label: XL
Category: Music
List Price: £13.99
Buy New: £7.98
You Save: £6.01 (43%)
New (52) Used (7) from £6.25
Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 423
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.5
MPN: 40388
UPC: 634904038823
EAN: 0634904038823
ASIN: B001CVCBEO
Release Date: August 18, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Monkey's World | | • | Monkey Travels | | • | Into The Eastern Sea | | • | Living Sea | | • | Dragon King | | • | Iron Rod | | • | Out Of The Eastern Sea | | • | Heavenly Peach Banquet | | • | Battle In Heaven | | • | O Mi To Fu | | • | Whisper | | • | Tripitaka's Curse | | • | Confessions Of A Pig | | • | Sandy The River Demon | | • | March Of The Volunteers | | • | White Skeleton Demon | | • | Monk's Song | | • | I Love Buddha | | • | March Of The Iron Army | | • | Pigsy In Space | | • | Monkey Bee | | • | Disappearing Volcano |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
You could never accuse Damon Albarn of resting on his laurels. Whether it's forming supergroups (The Good, The Bad & The Queen), working with cult animators (The Gorillaz) or making music with musicians from Mali, the former Blur frontman has nurtured a restless, questing spirit not normally encountered in Britop stars. As if to underline his diverse interests, he now turns his attention to Chinese theatre. Monkey: Journey to the West is a theatrical collaboration between Albarn (music), Jamie Hewlett of Gorillaz fame (designs, costumes) and Chinese opera specialist Chen Shi-Zheng. The show itself is an explosive 90-minute circus featuring Chinese acrobats, martial arts experts and contortionists, though the album condenses the experience into 22 songs lasting an hour or so. Recorded in London and Beijing with a mix of European and Chinese musicians, Monkey ... is a genuine attempt at East-West fusion. Featuring a dizzying array of instrumentation--rock guitars, electronics, harps, mandolins, drum machines, strings, plinky-plonk keyboards, giggling girls, chants, even pigs--it's the sort of project that could so easily have gone awry. Yet Albarn, who allegedly mastered the Chinese pentatonic scale, seems to have made it work. Songs like the fluttery "Heavenly Peach Banquet" and the wistful "The Living Sea" are utterly beguiling, and stand in stark contrast to guitar-heavy behemoths like "Battle in Heaven" and the climactic "Monkey Bee." These longer songs are punctuated with incidental pieces such as "Iron Rod", "Into the Eastern Sea" and "Out of the Eastern Sea". While such interludes may distract from a 'normal' album experience, there's enough melodious charm and imaginative whimsy scattered throughout to satisfy even ardent skeptics. --Paul Sullivan
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 A beautiful banquet for the ears September 3, 2008
sininho (London, UK)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Just received the album this morning, and on the first listen I am taken to a different world of sounds, which spark so many emotions. I feel as if I am traveling with monkey and his pals.
I haven't seen the opera, but this certainly gives me a private peek into how this amazing project came together!!! Good work boys!
Simply stunning August 18, 2008
M. KEEN (Somerset, UK)
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
Albarn has really excelled here - this is beautiufl music that like the previous reviewer really does make you think about China. Eclectic music that is like nothing I've heard before. May be a challenging experience for some but ultimately rewarding.
Monkey magic all over again! August 24, 2008
Andromeda Descendent (Tarn Vedra)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
I loved the TV series Monkey! - The Complete Series, and because of this I have a good idea of what's going on in the music without having seen the stage opera it comes from. And I love this. The clash of traditional eastern and experimental western influences just has to be heard to be believed. Above anything else it is music for the imagination, and if you know what's going on then it really is a heavenly peach of a gift in both sound and the visuals you create around it.
However, there are evidently a few Gorillaz [Explicit Lyrics] [Bonus Tracks] fans out there who don't have a clue what it's about and were obviously expecting something more along those lines, hence a few one-star ratings. Their point is a good one (I'm a Gorillaz fan too, and I sympathise with them to some extent), but if you have a good imagination and you know the story or the TV series, it is a must and - for you - it will not disappoint.
A Brilliant Album for the Open Minded August 19, 2008
CrazyBlue (Cornwall, UK)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
First off, I am a fan of Albarns work with Gorrilaz. And when I first heard about this album in The Times, I went straight on the internet to hear a couple of songs. I was very impressed with what I heard, So as soon as I could I got this album. And I was blown away!! This is obviously nothing like I have owned before. And like anything I have heard before. This is because it is a beautiful mix of classical, opera, manderin and electronic sounds! The songs on here are just amazing, they have such an epic sound. Also I have seen some people complain about length? Yes there are 22 songs, and in all is 50 mins long, I think the seperation of time on the labum is very well done. besides afterall this is not a conventional album so I really don't think it matters!
Overall if you're looking for a new unique sound get this! I must warn that even if you're a Gorrilaz fan do not get the album on the merit of that until you have heard at least 3 songs! Which can be found on the Journey to the West website/myspace.
Great Show Great Music August 22, 2008
E. P. di Sporgersi (manchester uk)
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
I was lucky enough to see Monkey at the Manchester festival. The music certainly isn't Blur or Gorillaz and if that's what you're after maybe this isn't for you. It is, however, a brilliant crossover between Chinese opera and Western music, a little reminiscent of serialist music like Philip Glass or John Adams, but wholly original, beautiful, thrilling and hypnotic. If you get a chance see the show grab it - it is just wonderful.
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